Tycoon series are probably a good bet. And the incredible machines series are awesome, I played those when I was growing up.
There's Sim City and Sims, although the latter is a soulsucking monster, like an MMO for people with OCD (unless they are just playing to kill their characters, and in my experience it's most people who play Sims) and no social interaction whatsoever.
Can't think of any other more or less completely un-destructive games. Most strategy games have very obvious destructive game elements... I've been growing up on Heroes of Might and Magic 2 (and of course, 3), Warcraft 2 and Age of Empires and Civilization, but they're probably not what you might want if you really want to avoid destructive games. Although some got awesome stories and setting.
Edit: And if you're growing a nerd, I wouldn't be surprised for him/her to be familiar with all sorts of destructive activities and such. Like, Lord of The Rings (or at least The Hobbit) by the age of 7, and stuff =p